1Flex: the world's most acclaimed films and series, all in one place, and where to watch them

The 1Flex design

The archived December 2025 capture of 1flex.nl holds only the frame of the site, the black page that its app drew on, together with its two style sheets. Those style sheets were measured: a pure black background, charcoal panels in zinc tones at various transparencies, fine borders in a darker zinc, a strong red for highlights and active states, and the Geist typeface with its monospaced sibling Geist Mono. Because the rest of the page was drawn in the browser, beyond the reach of the archive, the layout of this 1Flex is an original design built on exactly those colours and typefaces, faithful to the look and to the one-stop idea.

The wordmark is original too: a red rounded square holding a white 1 in monospace, followed by FLEX in bold white capitals.

The header

The header is a slim black bar that stays at the top of the screen, slightly transparent so the page glows through as you scroll. On the left sits the wordmark, then a row of pill-shaped links: Home, Films, Series, World Cinema, Classics, Top rated, A-Z and My List. The current page is marked with a faint red pill and a thin red outline, and pointing at any link gives it a charcoal background. A search box with a zinc border sits on the right and turns red at the edge when you type. On a phone the links fold behind a single button, and the menu slides in with its own search box.

The one-stop hero

The home page opens with the idea at the heart of 1Flex: everything in one place. Under a soft red glow, a small outlined label reads The one stop for everything, above a large white headline and a short lede. Then comes the centrepiece, a wide search bar with a red button, ready for any title, star or director. Beneath it sit eight hub tiles in charcoal with red line icons: Films, Series, World Cinema, Classics, Korean, Japanese, European and Top rated, each with the number of titles it holds in small monospace figures. Every corner of the catalogue is one tap away.

The spotlight

The first numbered section, 01 Spotlight, is a bento grid of five featured titles. One large tile on the left shows the lead title with a wide backdrop, a monospace line giving its type and year, the title in large white letters, a short story and a red Watch now button; four smaller tiles on the right show the other featured titles, such as Breaking Bad, Parasite, Spirited Away and Interstellar. Each tile brightens and zooms gently when you point at it, and its border turns red.

Everything, ranked

Section 02, Everything, ranked, is a top ten of the highest-scoring titles in the catalogue with at least three thousand votes, laid out in two columns. Each line has a large monospace number, the first three in red and the rest in quiet zinc, a small poster, the title and a monospace line with the type, the year and the score. A View all link opens the full Top rated collection.

The rows

Sections 03 onwards are rows of posters: Films, Series, World Cinema and Classics, each under a numbered heading with a View all link. Every poster sits in a rounded frame with a thin zinc border that turns red when you point at it, and underneath come the title and a monospace line with the type, the year and the score. The rows scroll sideways on smaller screens, and a final numbered section gathers the help guides before this guide to the site.

A title page

Every poster leads to a full title page. It shows the poster and a wide backdrop, the original title, the year, the running time or the number of seasons and episodes, the genres, the score, the story, the cast with their roles and the director or creators. The viewing panel lets you choose one of fifteen countries, from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia to India, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, Japan and South Africa. Pick yours and press Watch now to open the title on JustWatch, which lists every official service that carries it there. Series pages go further, with a page for every season and a list of every episode with its air date and a short summary.

Films: the great crime sagas

The Films collection gathers the most acclaimed English-language films, and crime is where many of them begin. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, from Francis Ford Coppola, follow the Corleone family across two generations and are regularly named among the greatest films ever made. GoodFellas, from Martin Scorsese, follows the rise and fall of a young gangster, The Departed pits an undercover cop against a mole in the Boston police, and Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs made Quentin Tarantino's name with their tangled timelines and razor-sharp dialogue. The Usual Suspects ends on one of the most famous twists in cinema, Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs are the gold standard of the serial-killer thriller, and Prisoners is a gripping story of a father searching for his daughter.

Films: modern classics

Some films have been loved by every generation since they were released. The Shawshank Redemption follows a banker's long years in prison and his friendship with a fellow inmate, and it sits at or near the top of almost every audience ranking. Forrest Gump follows a kind-hearted man through three decades of American history, The Green Mile is a moving tale set on death row, and Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society are about the teachers who change young lives. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won the five major Academy Awards, The Truman Show imagined a life lived entirely on television, and Whiplash is a ferocious story of a drummer and his teacher. Green Book and The Help are warm stories of friendship across the divides of American history.

Films: big ideas and big adventures

For spectacle and imagination, the shelf is extraordinary. Christopher Nolan made The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, The Prestige and Memento, five puzzles of very different kinds, and The Matrix changed action cinema forever. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King form one of the great achievements of film, and Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back still thrill audiences decades on. Back to the Future, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Alien, Gladiator, Top Gun: Maverick, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame complete a shelf built for the biggest screen in the house.

Films: war and history

The War & History collection holds some of the most powerful films ever made. Schindler's List, from Steven Spielberg, tells of the businessman who saved more than a thousand Jewish lives during the Holocaust, and The Pianist follows a musician's survival in the Warsaw ghetto. Saving Private Ryan opens with a landing on Omaha Beach of overwhelming intensity, Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket are two very different visions of the Vietnam War, and Hacksaw Ridge follows a medic who saved dozens of lives armed only with his courage. Inglourious Basterds rewrites history with Tarantino's wit, and Band of Brothers on the series shelf follows one company from Normandy to the end of the war.

Films: animation

Animation has its own place among the acclaimed. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reinvented what an animated superhero film could look like, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a witty fairy-tale adventure, and The Lion King, WALL·E and Coco are among the most loved films of Disney and Pixar. From Japan come the films of Studio Ghibli and the hits of Makoto Shinkai, and from France comes My Life as a Zucchini, a small stop-motion gem. The Animation collection gathers them all, along with animated series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gravity Falls and Adventure Time.

Series: the great dramas

The Series collection gathers the most acclaimed television, and its dramas are among the finest stories told on any screen. Breaking Bad follows a chemistry teacher who becomes a drug lord, and its prequel Better Call Saul follows the lawyer Saul Goodman with the same patience and craft. The Sopranos follows a mob boss in therapy and is often credited with beginning a golden age of television, The Wire studies a whole city through its drug trade, police, docks, schools and newspapers, and Peaky Blinders follows a gang in 1920s Birmingham with style to spare. Sons of Anarchy follows a motorcycle club in California, and Severance imagines workers whose memories are split between work and home.

Series: miniseries

Some of the best television tells a complete story in a handful of episodes. Chernobyl recreates the 1986 nuclear disaster in five gripping episodes, Band of Brothers follows Easy Company through the Second World War in ten, and The Queen's Gambit follows a young chess prodigy in seven. Sherlock, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, reinvents Arthur Conan Doyle's detective in modern London in feature-length episodes. They are perfect for a weekend.

Series: comedy, mystery and family

For lighter viewing, The Office and Friends are two of the most rewatched comedies ever made, and Malcolm in the Middle is a chaotic and much-loved family sitcom. House follows a brilliant, difficult doctor, The Good Doctor a young surgeon with autism, and The Mentalist a former psychic who helps the police. The Rookie follows the oldest new recruit in the Los Angeles police, and Chicago P.D. follows an elite unit in Chicago. Anne with an E is a warm adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, and Stranger Things, The Umbrella Academy, FROM, The Mandalorian and Lucifer bring fantasy and science fiction. Teen Wolf, The Originals and Legacies complete the shelf. The series guide suggests where to begin.

Korea

The Korean collection gathers films and series from one of the most exciting film cultures in the world. Parasite, from Bong Joon Ho, won the Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Picture, the first film in a language other than English to take the top Oscar, and his earlier Memories of Murder and Mother are just as gripping. Train to Busan is a breathless zombie thriller, The Chaser and The Man from Nowhere are taut crime films, and A Taxi Driver is a moving true story set in Gwangju in 1980. Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil, Forgotten, Lady Vengeance, 3-Iron, The Flu and the animated Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs complete the film shelf.

Korean drama is represented by the series fans around the world love most. Crash Landing on You is a romance between a South Korean heiress and a North Korean officer, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God is a fantasy romance about an immortal goblin, and Extraordinary Attorney Woo follows a brilliant young lawyer with autism. When Life Gives You Tangerines, Lovely Runner, Twenty Five Twenty One, Vincenzo, Moving, Weak Hero, Alchemy of Souls, Hotel Del Luna, Mr. Queen, Business Proposal and Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo add romance, comedy, action and fantasy.

Japan

The Japanese collection runs from the golden age of the 1950s to the anime of today. Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Yojimbo and Ran are among the most influential films ever made, copied and remade around the world. Studio Ghibli is represented by Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Grave of the Fireflies and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, and the modern anime films include Your Name., Weathering with You, A Silent Voice: The Movie, Wolf Children and I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.

France

The European collection opens with France. The 400 Blows, François Truffaut's portrait of a restless boy, launched the French New Wave in 1959, and Amélie, with its green-and-gold Paris, became one of the most loved French films ever made. The Intouchables is a joyful true story of friendship between a wealthy man and his carer, La Haine follows three young men through one tense day in the Paris suburbs, and Léon: The Professional and The Fifth Element show Luc Besson's flair for action. Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors: Blue and Three Colors: Red are luminous meditations, Amour won the Palme d'Or, and A Prophet, Incendies, Mommy, The Chorus, The Dinner Game, Persepolis, Les Misérables, Two Is a Family and the 2024 The Count of Monte Cristo complete a rich shelf.

Italy

Italy brings the masters. Federico Fellini made La Strada, La Dolce Vita and 8½, three of the most celebrated films in the history of cinema, and Sergio Leone made the great westerns A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and Duck, You Sucker, with music by Ennio Morricone. Giuseppe Tornatore made Cinema Paradiso, a love letter to the movies, and The Legend of 1900 and The Best Offer, and Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful won three Academy Awards. The Postman, Deep Red, Perfect Strangers, Three Men and a Leg, Ask Me If I'm Happy, On My Skin and There's Still Tomorrow show the range of Italian film from horror to comedy.

Spain and Latin America

Spanish-language cinema is one of the richest shelves on 1Flex. Pan's Labyrinth, from Guillermo del Toro, is a dark fairy tale set after the Spanish Civil War, and Roma, from Alfonso Cuarón, is a black-and-white portrait of a family and its housekeeper in 1970s Mexico City. The Secret in Their Eyes won the Academy Award for Best International Feature, Wild Tales is a wickedly funny collection of stories about revenge, and Society of the Snow retells the 1972 Andes air crash with great power. Pedro Almodóvar's All About My Mother and Volver are celebrated melodramas, The Motorcycle Diaries follows the young Che Guevara across South America, and The Invisible Guest, The Body, Mirage, Cell 211, Open Your Eyes and Amores Perros bring thrillers and drama. The series shelf adds The House of Flowers, Cable Girls, The Boat, Control Z and Luis Miguel: The Series.

India

The Indian collection gathers the Hindi films that audiences return to again and again. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, has played in one Mumbai cinema for decades, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kal Ho Naa Ho and Om Shanti Om are the romances and family sagas of the same golden era. 3 Idiots, PK, Like Stars on Earth and Rang De Basanti mix humour with sharp social questions, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India was nominated for the Academy Award, and Dangal became one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever. Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Swades, My Name Is Khan, The Lunchbox, Andhadhun, Drishyam and KILL complete the shelf. The world cinema guide picks highlights from every region.

Classics

The Classics collection gathers the titles made before 1990, from Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon of 1950 to Dead Poets Society of 1989. It is a tour of cinema history in itself: Fellini, Leone and Truffaut, The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, Star Wars and Alien, The Shining and Back to the Future. Many of these films have been restored in 4K and look better today than on their first release. The classics guide suggests where to begin.

Decade by decade

The decade collections make it easy to explore the catalogue by era. The 1990s gave us The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Life Is Beautiful, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Friends; the 2000s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Spirited Away, Amélie, Pan's Labyrinth and The Wire; the 2010s Inception, Parasite, The Intouchables, Breaking Bad and Your Name.; and the 2020s Society of the Snow, Top Gun: Maverick, The Queen's Gambit and When Life Gives You Tangerines.

Top rated

The Top rated collection gathers the titles scoring 8.4 or more from at least three thousand votes, and the Everything, ranked top ten on the home page shows the very best. The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, The Dark Knight and The Green Mile sit near the top with Parasite, Spirited Away, Seven Samurai, Cinema Paradiso, Life Is Beautiful, Breaking Bad and Band of Brothers. The top rated guide explains how the ranking works.

Subtitles and dubs

World cinema is easy to enjoy on the official services. Films from Korea, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Latin America and India come with subtitles in many languages, and many also offer dubbed audio. Watching in the original language with subtitles lets you hear the actors' own voices, from Toshiro Mifune to Song Kang-ho. Switch between audio and subtitles from the player menu, and change the size and colour of subtitles in the settings. The subtitles guide explains the settings.

How Watch now works

Every title on 1Flex has a red Watch now button on its page. Choose your country and press it, and JustWatch opens with every official service that carries the title in that country, with subscription, rental, purchase and free options side by side. Classics and world cinema move between services more than most, so the button checks JustWatch each time. The how to watch guide walks through the steps.

Where the titles stream

The big subscription services, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max, Apple TV+ and Paramount+, carry much of the catalogue, depending on the country. For classics and world cinema, MUBI and the Criterion Channel are wonderful companions, and regional services add many more. Apple TV, Google TV and Prime Video rent and sell almost every film on the shelf, often in restored 4K editions. The streaming services guide gives more detail.

Free and legal options

Some of the catalogue can be watched free and legally. Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel and Freevee carry many films free with adverts in several countries, and Kanopy and Hoopla offer many classics with a library card. When you press Watch now, free options appear on JustWatch beside the paid ones. The free movies guide lists the best places to look.

Phones, laptops, consoles and TVs

1Flex works in every modern browser, on a phone, a tablet, a laptop or a desktop computer. On a phone the links fold behind a single button, the hub tiles sit two to a row, the spotlight stacks into a column and the poster rows scroll sideways with a thumb. You can add 1Flex to your home screen from the browser menu, where it opens like an app. The titles play in each service's official app, and Fire TV, Google TV, Apple TV, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox and most smart TVs run them. The apps and devices guide covers each option.

My List

Press Add to My List on any title page to save a film or a series, and on a season page mark the episode you reached, which is handy for long series such as The Sopranos, The Office or House. My List is stored in your own browser, works straight away and belongs to you alone. Export saves it to a small file, and Import restores it on another phone or computer. The My List guide has the details.

Finding a title

The big search bar on the home page and the search box in the header look through titles, including original titles in other languages, as well as cast and directors; press Enter for the full results page, where you can narrow the list to films or series. The hub tiles open every major collection, the menu leads to Films, Series, World Cinema, Classics and Top rated, and the collections page adds the decades and genres. The A-Z index lists everything alphabetically, and the finding titles guide explains each route.

Recognising 1Flex

Popular names attract copies, so it helps to know the real design. This 1Flex has a black page, a red rounded square with a white 1 beside the FLEX wordmark, pill-shaped links, a wide search bar with a red button and hub tiles, numbered sections in monospace figures and a red Watch now button. Every Watch now button leads to JustWatch and from there to the official services. Bookmark the home page, or add it to your phone's home screen, and you will always return to the right place. The official site guide repeats these signs.

Streaming safely

A few habits keep streaming safe and simple. Install apps only from official stores, give each service its own strong password and switch on two-step sign-in where it is offered. Before entering payment details, check that the address bar shows the real name of the service. 1Flex links only to JustWatch, and JustWatch links to the official services, so every step stays on trusted ground. The safety guide keeps the checklist short.

If a page is slow

If 1Flex seems slow, load the home page and then any title; if both appear, the site is working. Refreshing the page, clearing the browser cache, trying another browser or switching between mobile data and Wi-Fi usually solves the rest. Playback itself happens on the streaming service, so its help centre is the right place for any playback question. The site status guide lists the quick fixes.

Privacy

1Flex keeps things light and ready to use at once. My List, your chosen country and the episodes you mark are stored in your own browser, on your own device. Posters and details load from TMDB, and the site fonts load from Google Fonts. The privacy page explains each item in plain words.

How the catalogue is chosen

The catalogue follows the one-stop promise of the original. It gathers the highest-rated films and series with large numbers of votes, from Hollywood and English-language television to Korea, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Latin America and India, from the 1950s to today. Every title is chosen by hand for a general audience, with sex-led titles and daily telenovelas left out, and the whole catalogue is drawn from TMDB, which supplies the posters, stories, cast and episode lists.

A short history of 1Flex

1Flex appeared in late 2025 at 1flex.nl, a Dutch address, with the title The 1 Stop of Everything and a promise to help people discover and watch amazing films and series. Its app was dark and minimal, built with modern web tools and the Geist typeface. Only its frame and style sheets were archived, so this rebuild keeps its palette, its typefaces and its one-stop idea, with one important difference: every film and series now opens on the official services that carry it, in your country.

Where to start

With so much in one place, a few starting points help. If you love a great story, begin with The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather and Breaking Bad. If you want to explore world cinema, start with Parasite, Spirited Away, Amélie and Cinema Paradiso, four films that have won over audiences everywhere. For a weekend, pick a miniseries such as Chernobyl or The Queen's Gambit, and for pure joy, 3 Idiots and The Intouchables rarely fail to lift a room.

Directors to follow

A handful of directors appear again and again. Christopher Nolan made The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, The Prestige and Memento; Martin Scorsese made GoodFellas and The Departed; Quentin Tarantino made Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained; and Steven Spielberg made Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. Beyond Hollywood, Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Bong Joon Ho, Hayao Miyazaki, Pedro Almodóvar and Krzysztof Kieślowski each have several films on the shelf. Searching a director's name is the quickest way to see them all.

Stories that travel

Great stories travel. Kurosawa's Yojimbo inspired Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, and Seven Samurai has been remade as westerns and science fiction. The Departed is a remake of a Hong Kong thriller, Drishyam began as a Malayalam film before its Hindi version, and The Intouchables has been remade in several countries. Watching an original and its remake side by side is a fascinating way to see how cultures shape the same tale.

Ideas for a movie night

If you are planning an evening, a few pairings work beautifully. For a Leone night, pair The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Once Upon a Time in the West; for Kurosawa, Rashomon with Seven Samurai. For Korean thrills, Memories of Murder and The Chaser make a gripping double bill, and for tears and smiles, Cinema Paradiso and Life Is Beautiful are ideal. For the whole family, Coco followed by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse suits every age.

Watching together

Many of these titles are made for a full room. The battles of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Avengers: Endgame get everyone cheering, the comedy of Friends and The Office works for all ages, and Bollywood favourites such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham bring families together. For group viewing, cast the title to the television, choose the audio language everyone prefers and turn on subtitles for anyone who follows better in another language.

Watching from abroad

1Flex readers live all over the world, which is why the viewing panel covers fifteen countries. Choose the country where you are right now, since that is where the services will play, and JustWatch lists the services that carry the title there. Classics and world cinema in particular move between services from country to country, so it is always worth checking. Your country choice is remembered in your browser for the next visit.

Worth watching again

Some titles reward a second viewing even more than the first. The puzzles of Memento, Inception and The Prestige fall into place only once you know the ending, the details of The Godfather and Seven Samurai reveal something new every time, and Parasite looks entirely different the second time through. Keep a few favourites in My List for the evenings when an old friend is exactly what you need.

A first visit

On a first visit, try the big search bar with a favourite title, open a hub tile or two, and look through the spotlight and the ranked top ten. Open a few titles and read their stories. Press Watch now on one that appeals, choose your country and follow JustWatch to the service. Save a few titles to My List for later. Within a few minutes, 1Flex will feel like the one stop it promises to be.

A tour of the Films collection

The Films collection is the heart of the catalogue, and it rewards exploring. Start with the crime sagas, move on to the modern classics, then spend an evening with Nolan's puzzles or the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and finish with the war films and the great animations. Each film page lists the cast and director, so it is easy to follow a favourite actor such as Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio or Morgan Freeman from one film to the next. The films guide suggests a path through the shelf.

Actors to follow

A few actors appear in several of the most acclaimed films. Al Pacino stars in The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and Scarface, Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II and GoodFellas, and Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception, Shutter Island, The Departed and Django Unchained. Morgan Freeman leads The Shawshank Redemption and Se7en, Tom Hanks leads Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile, and Brad Pitt appears in Fight Club, Se7en and Inglourious Basterds. In world cinema, Song Kang-ho leads Parasite, Memories of Murder and A Taxi Driver, Toshiro Mifune leads Seven Samurai, Rashomon and Yojimbo, and Shah Rukh Khan leads Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and My Name Is Khan.

Music on screen

Music is part of what makes these films so memorable to so many viewers. Ennio Morricone's scores for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and Cinema Paradiso are among the most famous ever written, Hans Zimmer's organ-driven score gives Interstellar its sense of wonder, and Joe Hisaishi's melodies carry Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. Whiplash is about music itself, and the songs of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kal Ho Naa Ho are still sung at weddings across South Asia. A good pair of headphones or a soundbar makes all the difference.

For younger viewers

Families will find plenty to enjoy. The Animation collection gathers Coco, The Lion King, WALL·E, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, and the series shelf adds Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gravity Falls and Adventure Time, three of the most acclaimed animated series ever made. Like Stars on Earth, about a boy with dyslexia and the teacher who understands him, is a moving choice for older children. Check the genres and the story on each title page to choose what suits your family, since many of the acclaimed titles are made for adults.

Reading the scores

Every title page shows a score out of ten, the average rating given by TMDB members. Scores from many voters are the most reliable, which is why the Top rated collection and the ranked top ten count only titles with at least three thousand votes. World cinema titles often have fewer votes than Hollywood hits, so a film such as 3-Iron or The Postman may sit lower on the list while being just as special; read the story, check the genres and trust your own taste.

Films for every season

The catalogue has something for every time of year. Summer suits the sunshine of Cinema Paradiso and the road trip of The Motorcycle Diaries, autumn evenings suit the chills of The Shining and Se7en, and winter holidays suit the warmth of The Intouchables and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Spring is a lovely time to start a great series such as Breaking Bad or The Wire. Whatever the weather, the hub tiles on the home page will point the way.

Short watches

Some evenings call for something short. The episodes of The Office and Friends last around twenty minutes, Chernobyl tells its story in five hours, and films such as My Life as a Zucchini and Rashomon run for well under ninety minutes. The running time on each title page and the episode list on each season page help you plan, whether you have twenty minutes or a whole afternoon.

Sharing a favourite

Every title page has its own address, so sharing a recommendation is simple: copy the link from the address bar and send it to a friend, who will see the story, the cast and the Watch now button for their own country. It is an easy way to introduce someone to Seven Samurai, Pan's Labyrinth or Crash Landing on You, and to compare notes afterwards. Adding the title to My List first means you can find it again quickly when the conversation turns to what to watch next.

Thrillers that grip

The Crime collection is packed with thrillers that keep audiences on the edge of their seats. The Silence of the Lambs pits a young FBI trainee against Hannibal Lecter, Se7en follows two detectives through a city of rain towards a shattering finale, and Shutter Island traps a marshal on an island asylum full of secrets. From Spain come The Invisible Guest and The Body, two clever puzzles, from Korea come The Chaser and The Man from Nowhere, and from India comes Andhadhun, a darkly comic tale of a pianist who witnesses a murder. Drishyam and Mirage add more twists.

Feel-good favourites

Sometimes only a feel-good film will do, and the catalogue has plenty. The Intouchables is a joyful friendship across the barriers of class, Amélie spreads small kindnesses around Paris, and 3 Idiots celebrates curiosity over rote learning. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara follows three friends on a road trip through Spain, The Chorus tells of a teacher who brings a school choir to life, and Forrest Gump and Back to the Future are pure comfort. For series, Friends, Malcolm in the Middle and Business Proposal are guaranteed to lift the mood.

Epics for a long evening

For a long evening, the catalogue has epics of every kind. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India runs for nearly four hours of cricket, romance and rebellion, Seven Samurai and Ran are sweeping samurai epics, and Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly take their time across the frontier. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King crowns a trilogy that is best watched over a single weekend, and Gladiator and Schindler's List are epic in scale and feeling.

Remarkable debuts

Several films on the shelf were the first or early features of great directors. The 400 Blows was François Truffaut's first feature, Reservoir Dogs was Quentin Tarantino's, Amores Perros was Alejandro González Iñárritu's, and Memento was Christopher Nolan's second. Watching an early film beside a later one, such as Memento and Interstellar, shows how a filmmaker's style grows over the years.

Award winners

The shelf is full of award winners. The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump, Gladiator, The Departed, Green Book and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King all won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Parasite became the first film in a language other than English to join them. Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and Life Is Beautiful, The Secret in Their Eyes and Amour won for international film. At Cannes, Parasite, Amour and Pulp Fiction each won the Palme d'Or. The awards are a useful guide, and many of the most loved titles on the shelf shine just as brightly with the audience alone.

Growing up on screen

Coming-of-age stories are among the most affecting on the shelf. The 400 Blows follows a boy slipping through the cracks of 1950s Paris, Cinema Paradiso follows a boy who falls in love with the movies, and Like Stars on Earth follows a boy whose teacher sees his gifts. Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting are about young people finding their voice, Twenty Five Twenty One follows a fencer growing up in Korea's hard times, and Anne with an E follows an orphan girl's bright imagination on Prince Edward Island.

A perfect weekend

For a whole weekend with 1Flex, try this plan. On Friday night, open with a crowd-pleaser such as The Intouchables or 3 Idiots. On Saturday, settle in with The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, or with the first season of Breaking Bad. On Sunday afternoon, travel the world with Spirited Away, Parasite and Cinema Paradiso, and end the weekend with a miniseries such as Chernobyl. Mark everything you finish in My List, and the next weekend will be even easier to plan.

Keeping notes

Many viewers like to keep a note of what they have watched and what they want to see next. My List does both: save titles you plan to watch, and use the episode marks on series pages to record your progress. Because it lives in your browser, it is private to you, and a quick export keeps a copy safe whenever you like.

Questions